Your garage door is perhaps the very last thing you see before leaving home and the first thing you see upon arrival back home. Squeaky or screeching sounds from the garage may be very unpleasant to the ears and disturbing your neighbors. There are perhaps inexhaustible reasons why you should keep your garage door in shape. Luckily, you do not have to incur the cost of employing a professional to carry out the maintenance of your garage door. You can do it yourself.
Your garage is as important as the other parts of your home. Not taking good care of its door could cost you a lot of money in the long run. Imagine rushing out to work one early morning only to start battling with a friction-prone or a damaged garage door.
The following are practical steps you could attempt to keep your garage door in track and efficiently running:
1. Be Observant
It is important for you to carefully observe your garage door each time it is in action. Listen for strange grinding, squeaky or scraping sounds. Your garage door should not make any of those unpleasant sounds. It should run smoothly and quietly.
Check the tracks to ensure that they are properly anchored to the wall. Perhaps, there are loosed screws or bolts and nuts, make sure to tighten them all. Therefore, your screwdriver and spanner should always be in handy. You may need a wrench to tighten the brackets or a hammer to fix a dent or damage in the track. In case your tracks are heavily damaged it may replace it to prevent serious issues.
Always confirm the alignment of the rollers, springs, and pulleys. These parts are often prone to wear and tear and damage to one of them can affect the whole system. The level can be used to check the alignment of the rollers. The track of a roll up door should be leveled. If the rollers are not in the perfect position, you should loosen the brackets that hold them in their position. After that, hit on them using a hammer. You are assured of a perfect alignment.
2. Keep your Tracks Clean
The tracks which guide garage doors usually accumulate dust, sand, oil, and other fragments. Therefore, it is important for you to remove the accumulated dirt. To achieve this, simply sweep out loose dirt and scrub the oil with warm water. After that, wipe the tracks with a towel or a sponge and leave the tracks to dry.
3. Reduce friction
Friction has set in the moment you start to hear squeaky, screeching sounds as you open or close the garage doors. Mildly apply lubricating oil to the hinges and rollers. A 3-in-1 lubricant for garage doors would be perfect.
With proper and regular maintenance, you are assured of a long-lasting, and smoothly functioning garage door. So, do not take yours for granted.
However, it is not in every case that you can fix your garage door yourself. When the problem is beyond your control, the best option will be to call a professional like us. If you live in Texas then you will be happy to hear that we are the states premier garage door repair and installation company. Visit our about us page to learn more about us.
